Putting target with gates adapted to be closed and opened by a putted golf ball



May 18, 1965 w w. GLEESON 3,184,240

PUTTING TARGET WfTH GATES ADAPTED TO BE CLOSED AND OPENED BY A PUTTEDGOLF BALL Filed D90. 28, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l i INVENTOR. A: M/Aom41/0/96 Q/eesafl M V/ /V Y W. W. GLEESON 3,184,240 PUTTIN TARGET WITHGATES ADAPTED TO BE CLOSED 63mm OPENED BY A PUITED GOLF JI'BALLL m5 6w 1. RwW 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filea' Dec. 28, 1962 INVENTOR.

A ORNEYS United States Patent PUTTING TARGET WITH GATES ADAPTED TO BECLOSED AND OPENED BY A PUTTED GOLF BALL William W. Gleeson, 940 NE. 50thCourt, Pompano Beach, Fla. Filed Dec. 28, 1962, Ser. No. 247,928 Claims.(Cl. 273-177) This invention relates to putting devices adapted for useon lawns and capable of forming a putting cup without defacing the lawn.Particularly the invention deals with a marker and cup former for lawnputting which is adapted to create a putting cup simulating depressionfor receiving a golf ball and which has a gate assembly temporarilytrapping the ball in the depression to give a definite indication ofsinking the putt.

According to this invention, there is provided a marker assemblyincluding a post with a hole designating numeral on the top thereof, aground piercing spike on the bottom thereof, a circular base flangeradiating therefrom adjacent the spike to form at putting cup depressionin a lawn, and a cage assembly above the base having a plurality ofgates that are tripped by a ball as it rolls into the cup created by thebase for temporarily retaining the ball. The devices of this inventionare especially useful to quickly create at putting green without in anyway damaging the lawn and are preferably used in multiples of nine oreighteen to form a nine or eighteen hole putting green. The devices arereadily removed after play to render the lawn available for otherusages.

It is then an object of this invention to provide a putting apparatuswhich will create a putting cup without defacing a lawn.

Another object of this invention is to provide a putting cup former andmarker which will not deface a lawn and will give a visual indication ofsinking a putt.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a putting devicewhich accurately simulates putting into a conventional putting cup orhole without forming a lawn defacing hole and which does not involverolling the ball up a slight incline as is customary in such devices.

A specific object of the invention is to provide a marker assembly forputting which has a series of gates that are tripped by a ball to givean indication of sinking a putt.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cage assembly forputting apparatus which confines a ball only temporarily and which isautomatically opened by the ball upon sinking of the putt.

Another object of the invention is to provide a putting apparatus whichwill not deface a lawn and which has an adjustable gate assembly that ismoved to accommodate grass of different heights to temporarily retain aball.

Other and further objects of this invention will become apparent tothose skilled in this art from the following detailed description of theannexed sheets of drawings which, by way of an example only, illustratea preferred embodiment of the invention.

On the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view of the putting device of this inventionmounted for use in a lawn and illustrating the manner in which a puttingcup is formed without defacing the lawn.

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but showing the cage assembly inclosed position and the post rotated 90.

FIGURE 3 is an elevational view of the cage assembly with parts removedto show underlying parts.

FIGURE 4 is an elevational view of one of the gates.

FIGURE 5 is a bottom plan view of the gate assembly.

As shown on the drawings:

The putting apparatus ll) of FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a metal post 11 witha flat disk top 12 presenting opposed faces for marking indicia 13 asfor example numerals to designate the hole number.

Spaced below the disk top 12 of the post there is provided a pair ofpull-up grips 14 which radiate from the post and preferably have fingerreceiving recesses 14a in the bottom face thereof. These grips 14 arepreferably in the plane of the flat disk 12. Ninety degrees from theplane of the grips 14 there is provided a press down tab 15 extendingfrom one side of the post 11 and spaced below the pull-up grips asuitable distance for easy access as a step to be engaged by the foot ofa person installing the device.

The bottom end of the post 11 is externally threaded at 16.

A putting cup forming circular base member 17 has an internally threadedcentral hub 18 receiving the threaded end 16 of the post. The bottom ofthe hub 18 has an externally threaded stub 19 projecting therefrom andreceiving a spike member 20 in threaded engagement. The post 11 isthreaded tightly into the hub 18 and the spike 20 is threaded tightlyonto the stud 19 so that the post has the cup forming circular baseflange 17 radiating therefrom and a ground piercing spike dependingtherefrom.

The diameter of the base 17 is preferably the standard 4% inch diameterfor a golf cup. The circular base flange slopes downwardly from thecentral hub 18 to the circular periphery 21. Thus when the spike 20 isdriven in the ground by stepping on the pad 15 of the post 11 theperiphery 21 of the base first engages the top plane 22 of a lawn 23 totrap under the flange, that portion of the lawn 23 which is covered bythe flange. The pressing force is exerted until this periphery 21engages the ground line 24 thereby forming a circular depression or cup25 into which a golf ball 26 may drop. The cup 25 has a sharply definedside wall 27 created by the peripheral edge 21 of the flange. The cup 25thus closely simulates a conventional golf cup on a putting greenalthough it does not have the depth of such a cup.

A cage assembly 28 is slidably mounted on the post 11 and includes ahousing 29 having a hub portion 30 and a domed circular head portion 31with a bore 32a therethrough slidably receiving the post 11. The hub 30has a radial threaded hole 32b into which a tightening screw 33 isthreaded for engaging the post to hold the housing at a desired level onthe post.

A plurality of lugs 34 depend from the periphery of the head 31 in equalcircumferentially spaced relation and extend at an angle of about 45relative to the flat bottom face 35 of the head. In the illustratedembodiment eight such lugs are provided and each has a transverse hole36 therethrough. A mounting wire 37 is threaded through the holes 36 toform a suspension for a plurality of gates 38. In the illustratedembodiment eight such gates are provided with each gate being mountedbetween a pair of lugs 34.

Each gate 38 is composed of a flat sheet of thin metal or lightweightplastic of generally truncated triangular shape with a small end 38::and a large end 3811 oflset therefrom at an angle of about 45 along abend line 39.

The sides of the gate portion 38b at the bend line 39 are lanced toprovide rearwardly projecting ears 40. Holes' 41 are formed throughthese ears to receive the wire 37 therethrough, The ears 40 are spacedapart a sufficient p 7 4 surface a putting cup simulating depressionthat will receive the ball in the same manner as a conventional cup thatrequires a defacing of the lawn. It'will also be underears at an angleof more than 90 from the portion 38a.

If desired the extremity of the portion 38b may be curved downwardly at38c. e H i I A light finger spring 43 is provided to acton the portion38:: of each gate 33 for holding the gates in the open position ofFIG. 1. Each spring '43 has an eye end or head 44 secured to the bottomface 35 of the head 31 by a screw or bolt45. As shown in FIG. 5 thefinger springs 43 engage the gate portions 38a along the longitudinalcentral part thereof. The spring tension is such as to urge the gateportionsSSa into a vertical position as shown in FIG. 3. I

The ends of the wire 37 can be hooked around the ears of one gate asshown at 37a to form the pivots for this gate whereas all of the othergates can be threaded on the wire with each gate of course lying betweenand guided by the adjacent pair of lugs 34 on the head 31.

Since the gate support '29 is slidably mounted on the post 11 the cageassembly 28 can be raised and lowered relative to the base 17 and heldat any desired level by the tightening screw 33. The proper level forthe cage assembly 28 will depend upon the height of the grass 23 sincethe bottom edges of the gate portions 38a in their open position of FIG.1 should be about level with the grass level 22. If desired a levelindicator marking 46 can be provided on the post 11 for aligning the topedge of the housing 29 thereby indicating the proper. position for usewith a lawn of general height such as for example 1 /2 to 2 inches. Withthe cage assembly at the proper height the ball 26 will engage theportion 38a of one of the gates 38 as it falls in the cup 25 therebyswinging this gate portion inwardly against the tension of the spring43. This swingingmovement will bring. the gate portion 38b outwardly anddownwardly to the closedposition of FIG. 2. At the same time the tab 42of this swinging gate portion 38b will move the next adjacent gateportion 38b and thereby causing this gate portion in turn to move thenext gate. As a result all of the gates are swung to the closed positionof FIG. v2 and the ball is temporarily retained in the cup 25 under theumbrella-like envelopment created by the closed gates. The ballis thustrapped in the cup. 'However, after the gates have been swung to theirclosed positions the ball tends to roll down the inclined base 17 torelieve the load on the adjacent gate portion 38b and thereby permitthetension springs 43 to swing the gates to the open position of FIG. 1thus exof the apparatus.

stood that removal of the apparatus of this invention leaves the lawn inthesame condition as before with no defacing taking place duringinstallation, use or removal It will be further understood that thedevice of this invention has, an adjustable cage assembly fortemporarily encompassing the ball as it is dropped into 'the cup createdby the device so as to give a visual indication of sinking the puttwhileat the same time adding a depth effect to a shallow depression.

It will of course be alsounderstood that construction details of thedevice illustrated in thedrawings may be varied quite widely withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A puttingapparatus comprisinga post, a ground piercing spike on thebottom of the post, a circular cup forming flange radiating from thepost adjacent the spike and eflfective to depress a circular area of agrasslawn to form a putting cup without defacing the lawn, a cageassembly slidably mounted on the post above said flange, said cageassembly having circumferential disposed gates pivoted thereon eachequipped with portions adapted to be engaged by a ball as it drops intoa cup formed by the flange and ball trapping portions for surroundingthe base to momentarily retain a ball on the base, spring means biasingsaid gates to open position, means for adjusting the level of the cageassembly relative to the grass level of the lawn receiving the spike andflange, .a foot pad on the post for driving the spike into the ground tobottom the cup forming flange on the ground while holding grass underthe flange in a depressed flattened condition whereby grass surroundingthe flange will be above the flange periphery thereby providinga lipsimulating a put-ting cup lip, pull-up grips on the post forremoving theassembly from the ground, and a marker on the top of the postidentifying the number of the cupformed by said flange.

2. A'putting device adapted to simulateactual putting conditions on aconventional cup equipped lawn without defacing the lawn surface whichcomprises -a post having posing the ball for removal fromthe cup orpossibly even i ejecting the ball from the cup 25. V

The cage assembly thus gives a visible indication of sinking the puttwithout retaining the ball for a prolonged period. The cage assemblythus prevents. the ball from bouncing out of the cup as it effect to ashallow cup.

If desired a tee-off post can beprovid'ed'tomark the start of a puttinggame and this post can be identical with the post 11 but free from thebase flange 17'an'd cage assembly 28.

From the above description it should be understood that the puttingapparatus of this'invention is'easy to install and remove andtemporarily creates on a puttingv drops therein and adds depth a sharpspike edge on the bottom thereof adapted to be driven into the grasswithout producing a visible hole in the lawn, a base flangeradiatingfrom said post adjacent the spike end thereof having an outerperiphery sized for forming a putting cup hole and adapted to be pressedagainst the ground line to overlie the grass and form a shallow cup-likedepression in the grass, and means on said post overlying said flangeradially inwardly from said outerperiphery of the flange adapted to beclosed by a. ball only after the ball enters the'depression for givingdepth effect to the depression to thereby retain a ball whichmightotherwise roll over the depression.

3. In a' putting device,- a' marker post, a cage on said post, a ring ofgates on said cage, means holding the gates in open position; and eachgate having an impact face adapted to be struck by a ballentering thecage and means to simultaneously closeall the gates around the ball whenan impact face is struck by a putted ball. a

4. In a putting device, a ball retainingcage comprising a housingadapted to be slidably mounted on a post, a plurality of lugs around thehousing, a wire threaded through said lugs, a ring of gates pivoted onsaid Wire between the lugs, each gate having a cage closing flap to bemounted upright on a lawn, a cup-like depression forming flange on saidpost and held by the post to depress the lawn and be surrounded by aring of grass simulating a putting cup lip, and a ball retaining cage onsaid post overlying said flange having gates adapted to be closed by aball entering the depression in the lawn formed by the flange andadapted to be opened by the ball exiting from said depression tomomentarily retain the ball for providing a depth effect to thedepression.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 898,530 9/08Treadwell 273-177 954,299 4/10 Johnson 273-177 1,208,838 12/16 Rolfe273--177 1,427,537 8/22 Long 273-478 DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner.

3. IN A PUTTING DEVICE, A MARKER POST, A CAGE ON SAID POST, A RING OFGATES ON SAID CAGE, MEANS HOLDING THE GATES IN OPEN POSITION, AND EACHGATE HAVING AN IMPACT FACE ADAPTED TO BE STRUCK BY A BALL ENTERING THECAGE AND MEANS TO SIMULTANEOUSLY CLOSE ALL THE GATES AROUND THE BALLWHEN AN IMPACT FACE IS STRUCK BY A PUTTED BALL.